The Spyglass
by rocket-diving
Summary: To the victor go the spoils. (Panlix / Neverland Husbands Ship)


A shrill whistle cut through air thick with sea-spray and the unpleasant, coppery tang of recently spilled blood. Winning was almost as bad as Losing but the Game was Neverending, and so the remaining Lost Boys rose one by one along the sand and water's edge, collectively drawing toward their Leader.

Pan held his sword aloft as a beacon, the blade gleaming a brilliant crimson beneath the starlight. His smirk was wide and on the far-side of feral as his Boys assembled. Their ranks were noticeably thinned after that skirmish and Pan could spot at least two more in their fold who wouldn't last 'til Morning. Carrion birds and surf crabs would pluck the flesh from more Pirates than Lost Boys however, and the Ocean would indiscriminately take the rest.

"Gather 'round, you lot!" he crowed, his eyes flickering over the survivors' faces as he took a mental inventory. "Look at that, Ace and Pockets still standing? I find myself mildly impressed. And you, did you even manage to nick a Pirate with that toothpick of yours, Too Small, or were you blubbering the whole time? Someone get this child a nappy!" Pan's compliments assuaged any lingering distress for the younger Boys and his quips entertained the veterans. It took only a few notes of tentative laughter in their midst before they were shouting and creating a glorious ruckus of boasts and jibes. A celebratory bonfire was in order, and so they paraded away from the blood-soaked beach and back to the Forest.

Peter Pan stalked through the throng of boys that marched past, the lines of his shoulders, arms, and chest all sharp, tense angles. His eyes narrowed and expression darkened as he came to a halt directly in Felix's path, his greeting a none too gentle jab of his bloodied blade in the taller Boy's shoulder. "Oi," another hard prod, "Let's have a look."

Felix was forced back a half step, his legs clumsy and too long even with such a slight movement. With his head bowed, his dark hood obscured his features though it did nothing to muffle the amusement dusting each of his soft words. "I've plenty more adventures ahead of me, Peter Pan."

"I'll be the judge of that, Felix. Last thing I need is you keeling over at my party and mucking up the mood. Not to mention that it would probably take four of my Boys to toss your body." The tension eased from Pan's frame, sword arm dropping as a snide grin twisted his lips. His eyes betrayed him, his unwavering stare holding far more than a passing fancy as he eyed Felix.

"Well, in that case, I shall do my best to die horribly in an unobtrusive hole," Felix conceded graciously, pausing so that he might lift a long, thin hand with dirt-caked nails to drag back the cowl of his cloak. "But, not today."

Pan's laughter was a harsh, unspoken threat to an elsewhere Captain as he surveyed the damage. "It seems our Hook took offense to that smug mug of yours, Felix." A step forward and Peter was near enough to see that the jagged gash tearing across the Boy's gaunt, bloodied cheek was deep but free of Dreamshade, and that despite his casual banter, Felix's narrow chest rose and fell with shallow breaths.

"Price of the game," Felix parroted back to his Leader, a sly smile twitching at his mouth as he gazed down at Peter. "I confess that I much prefer, to the victor go the spoils." Felix's lips curled upward into a full grin as he raised the small, pilfered brass spyglass between them.

Peter swiped it from Felix without pretense, giving the spyglass an eager albeit brief examination before tucking it away on his person. "Knew there was a reason I kept **you** around," he commented low and quick, and as close to a genuine show of gratitude that few were likely to receive from Pan.

When Peter's arm snaked around Felix's tapered waist, the taller Boy merely sighed with mute content as Pan led him into the Forest and toward the not so distant glow of a raging bonfire, the still-warm bodies of their dead Boys on the beach already Forgotten.


End file.
